Tonight In This Very Ring
by Cuda77
Summary: Based on a M/M Ficcy Sunday prompt from sinecure: "Wrestling is another sport Jeff keeps up on to appear 'cool'. Or he tries to. Annie schools him on the deets."


**Community and everything to do with it does not belong to me. I'm just writing this for fun and have little to no money so suing me over it really wouldn't accomplish anything.**

A/N: In order to really "get" this story, it helps to have a pretty healthy knowledge of professional wrestling from around the world. If you don't, you'll likely be as lost as Jeff is in this story, if not moreso. All I can do is offer my apologies to those of you completely in the dark to what they're talking about. Those of you who do get it and know all the stuff I'm/Annie's talking about, I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it. Here we go!

* * *

"I've done everything that I've promised I would do, and then some! I am the Best In The World!"

Jeff Winger always found that he had to stop whatever he was doing when CM Punk was talking. He always had to tip his hat to guys who truly knew how to speak and speak with passion and charisma and be articulate, especially on a show that was so frequently filled with hollow threats and goofy catchphrases. As a skilled orator himself, Jeff could tell the difference between somebody racking their brains trying to remember their lines and somebody who talking just came naturally to. And in that department, he gladly called CM Punk one of his peers.

Jeff had never really been a very big fan of wrestling to be perfectly honest. It was always just something that people in college would be talking about and he was surprised to find out when he became a lawyer that even these guys enjoyed the sport. So he'd taken to watching it every Monday night, usually just to use as a form of background noise while he was working on his latest case and to catch enough details that he could hold his own at lunch the next day when his colleagues would be talking about it. But even once he'd been disbarred and his Monday night focuses switched from studying for cases to studying for midterms, he always kept wrestling on. For now it was just natural and part of his life. Sure, he didn't need to keep appearances up anymore and there wasn't really anyone at Greendale who appeared to be to into wrestling but it was just another nice anchor for Jeff to the way things used to be.

Suddenly, he was interrupted by a loud, frantic knock at his door. Only one person he knew usually knocked like that and Jeff's brow wrinkled in confusion. He marked the point in his history textbook where he'd left off and went to answer the door. Sure enough, when he opened it up, Annie Edison was standing in the doorway, looking worn out and frazzled.

"Annie," Jeff began tentatively. But before he could get out anything else, Annie quickly launched into an apologation (yet another Britta-ism standing for a combination apology and explanation that had somehow worked its way into the group's vocabulary).

"I'm sorry for just barging over here like this," babbled Annie without ever pausing to take a breath. "but I was out at my self-defense class and I was on my way home and my car broke down and I forgot my phone at the apartment and so I couldn't call to ask for help and you're the only person I know who lives around here so could you maybe give me some help with my car?"

Annie had talked so quickly that Jeff was having a difficult time catching up to all of her details. While he stood silently in the doorway trying to formulate an answer, John Cena loudly declared "You come down here right now and I'll give you a pre-ass-whipping to the real ass-whipping!"

Annie's ears perked up at that and she glanced around Jeff to his TV. "Are you watching Monday Night Raw?"

Once again, Jeff's brain was unable to comprehend what Annie had just said and he let out a small stammer before clearing his throat and answering, "Um, yeah I guess so. I dunno, I was just kinda flipping through the channels and then you knocked. So yeah, I guess that's what I'm watching."

"Oh man, I haven't gotten to watch this in forever!" Annie replied excitedly, seemingly forgetting all about her disabled car. "I couldn't afford cable when I lived above Dildopolis and Troy and Abed watch The Voice on Mondays so I never have a chance to watch."

"You're a wrestling fan, Annie?" Jeff asked incredulously.

"Well," Annie began as an embarrassed blush creeped its way across her cheeks, "yeah, I guess I am. My daddy was a really big fan and I always used to watch it with him when I was a little girl. But then the divorce happened and mom strictly forbade me from watching it anymore so that was that. But I always tried to keep up as much as I could online."

"Well, would you like to join me in watching it?"

"Wait, I thought you said you were just flipping through the channels? Unless," said Annie as a mischievous little grin spread over her face as the truth dawned on her, "you're really a wrestling fan and you were deliberately watching it?"

"Okay, fine, you caught me, I was watching wrestling," replied Jeff, rolling his eyes a little bit that Annie had caught him in a lie.

Annie let out a triumphant laugh at discovering the truth of the matter and couldn't resist teasing Jeff a little more. "Who would have thought that Jeff Winger, metrosexual icon, was into pro wrestling. Oh man, Britta would have a field day with this. And so would Pierce for that matter. You'd never hear the end of it if he knew you liked watching muscular, sweaty guys rolling around on the floor with each other in tiny spandex tights."

"Which is precisely the reason I haven't discussed this particular viewing habit of mine with the group," Jeff answered through gritted teeth. "Now do you want to come in and watch or not?"

"You really mean it Jeff? You want to watch wrestling with me?"

Jeff shrugged. "Sure, yeah. I mean, I've never really had anybody to watch it with before. But if I had to pick anyone to do it with, it'd be you."

Annie let out one of her famous "Aww's" at him and gave him a small, friendly hug for the compliment before deciding to join him in the apartment. Annie settled herself down on the couch while Jeff went to the refrigerator for a beer.

"You want anything to drink? Beer? Wine? Scotch? Water?"

"I'll take a beer, sure."

Jeff grabbed two beer bottles from the refrigerator and sat down next to Annie, tossing his history book to the floor to make room. Annie let out a little horrified gasp that he would treat his school book like that but quickly got over it once Jeff uncapped the bottles and handed one to her with a warm smile. Annie took it and the two silently toasted each other before taking long draughts just as the program came back from commercial.

"Ooh, Claudio Castagnoli, excellent!" Annie exclaimed.

"Who?"

"Claudio Castagnoli. The US Champion. Ooh, and he's fighting Justin Gabriel again. This should be really good."

"Um, that's Antonio Cesaro, Annie."

"I know, I just knew him first as Claudio Castagnoli. He was always so good in Ring Of Honor and CHIKARA."

"Bless you. Wait, where now?" Jeff asked, completely bewildered. "Oh wait, Ring Of Honor. That's where CM Punk wrestled right?"

"Right, but Claudio started working there after Punk left."

"I see," said Jeff, still not really following her. "And what was that other place you mentioned?"

"CHIKARA. They're another independent company. They're basically an American lucha company."

"American what?"

"Lucha," Annie said slowly, in a bit of disbelief herself that she was having to explain this to Jeff. After seeing that he still didn't comprehend what she was saying she sighed and rolled her eyes. "Lucha libre, Jeff. Mexican wrestling? Like Rey Mysterio and Mistico? Or rather Sin Cara?"

"Oh, okay, I see now. So a lot of masks and flying around and stuff?"

"Yeah, pretty much. They're really fun to watch."

"What channel are they on?"

"Well, they're not on TV Jeff. You have to buy the DVD's or the iPPV's from Smart Mark Video."

"You actually pay money for wrestling, Annie?"

"Well, yeah, Jeff, I do. When I can afford it, of course."

Jeff smirked and let out a bemused snort. "Typical Annie," he said. "Always going well above and beyond what's needed."

"And how very typical of you to only put in the minimum amount required just so you can skate by," replied Annie cooly. "And yes, this is one thing I do go above and beyond what's 'required' to do because I have a passion for it. I find it interesting and highly entertaining and when people have passion about something like that, there's nothing wrong with them trying to seek out the very best of it they can find, no matter how much it may cost. Be honest with me Jeff, how long have you actually been watching wrestling for?"

"Since I was in college. So since around…1998 or so? It was always a huge hit with my frat brothers and so I just always ended up watching it with them."

"Uh-huh. And in the 14 years or so that you've been watching wrestling, you've seriously never learned about any of the other promotions out there? You've never thought to try to see what other kinds of wrestling there are?"

"What do you want from me Annie? We were a bunch of drunk out of our minds college kids who liked laughing at DX and enjoyed it when Stone Cold would beat up Mr. McMahon and guzzle beer. That's all it was to us, a fun way to spend Monday nights and the occasional Sunday with your buddies."

The two fell silent after this and turned their attention back to the TV screen, just as Justin Gabriel hit his signature 450 Splash on Cesaro and pinned him for the victory. Both Annie and Jeff noted the significance of the upset that the relatively insignificant Gabriel had just beaten one of the top champions in the company. The two continued sitting in silence through the commercial break, periodically sipping their beers as the advertisements rolled by, a palpable air of tension hanging between them after their brief squabble. Jeff was wondering if this had been a good idea to invite Annie to watch wrestling with him since she'd been berating him for his apparent lack of knowledge of wrestling. Watching this was supposed to be fun and now it was just stressing Jeff out more.

"I wonder what that whole thing with AJ is about," said Jeff, desperate to break this uncomfortable silence that had settled in for the past few minutes. "What do you think's going to happen?"

"Hopefully she's quitting and they'll get her wrestling again. It just baffles me that one of the few girls who actually knows how to wrestle is being wasted on being a pointless authority figure storyline when the women's division is so lacking in talent."

"You have a problem with the Divas Division? You're starting to sound like Britta."

"Jeff, there are dozens, if not hundreds of female wrestlers who have just as much talent as men, if not moreso, who are constantly passed over by WWE and TNA because they're not 'pretty enough' or they don't 'fit a certain image.' So instead, they just hire a bunch of models who just want the exposure of being on TV to help their careers. They don't give a damn about wrestling or the people who paved the way for them to be on TV with their blood, sweat, tears and hard work. And they didn't have to put in any of that beyond answering a casting call. They're being paid millions while girls like Cheerleader Melissa and Mercedes Martinez have given their lives to the sport and worked their asses off to perfect their craft. You tell me how that's fair, Jeff."

"Lots of things in the world aren't fair, Annie. Professional athletes get paid hundreds of millions of dollars to play children's games while teachers have to work a second job because educating youths doesn't pay enough money to pay the rent every month. Yeah, it sucks but at least they're still good enough to get praise from you and others like you. It may not be as valuable as fame and wealth and job security but respect and admiration is worth something."

"I guess. It just really gets to me though since when I was little and just started watching, both WWF and WCW had the most talented women in the world on their rosters but then they just dropped all of them and swept them under the rug like they never existed."

"Like who?"

"Well, my daddy always used to watch WCW so the one who really stood out to me was Akira Hokuto. She was always just so fierce and tough and never stopped fighting. She was like a real-life superhero when I was five. My dad saw how much I idolized her and all the other girls so he started bringing me home tapes of them when they wrestled in Japan. They were even more badass there. Once I got shown that world, I just couldn't get enough. Every tape he'd bring home, I'd just consume, wanting to see more from Hokuto and Aja Kong and Kyoko Inoue and Bull Nakano and Madusa. But the one who was more awesome than all of them was Manami Toyota. She's probably the greatest wrestler I've ever seen. But anyway, even after my dad left after the divorce, I still kept tape trading and watching as much wrestling as I could. Even now, whenever me and my dad talk, we always make sure to talk about what great matches we've seen or companies and wrestlers we should really keep our eyes on. It's pretty much been the only way I can still connect with him."

Jeff could hear that Annie was starting to get a little emotional about remembering her dad and placed a comforting hand on her thigh. She looked at him questioningly and he offered her a friendly smile. Annie returned the smile and placed her hand over Jeff's. Neither of them were really paying attention anymore to what was going on with the show since they were having more fun enjoying each other's company and conversation.

"So how come you never said anything about being interested in this before?" Jeff asked her, removing his hand from her thigh and stretching out across the back of the sofa.

"I'm just not really used to talking about it, you know? I mean I didn't really have any friends in school so it wasn't like I could discuss it with them. When I got to Greendale, I figured it would be more of the same so I didn't really see any point in bringing it up. And wrestling seems to be the absolutely only topic of interest in the universe that Greendale doesn't have a club for so I just kept it to myself."

"Well now you have someone who you can talk about it with and watch it with," replied Jeff, playfully rumpling Annie's hair. "What do you say? You wanna make this a thing for the two of us? You coming over on Mondays and we watch wrestling together?"

"That sounds like a lot of fun Jeff, thanks," said Annie, smiling warmly at him. "Ooh, maybe I can even start bringing over some of my tapes so I can show you just what you're missing out on! You'll be an educated wrestling fan in no time!"

"Eh, let's take things one step at a time, Annie. After all, I am still me. For now, I'm still content to just watch on Mondays."

"You know I'm going to break you down on this eventually, don't you," Annie asked, flashing him a quick Disney face to accentuate her point.

"Yes, I'm sure you will. But until that time rolls around, I think this will do just fine."

"Yeah, you're right. Thanks for inviting me in Jeff. This has been a really great time. Even with my car breaking down and all that."

"Speaking of that, when this is all done, how about I drive you back to your car and we'll call AAA?"

"I think that sounds like a wonderful plan."

The two then clinked their beer bottles together to punctuate the point and they settled back in to watching the show just as Ryback was finishing destroying The Miz. For the rest of the night, Annie and Jeff watched and discussed wrestlers they liked and disliked, who they thought would win at the pay per view on Sunday and groaning anytime something stupid would happen. And for the first time since she joined the study group, Jeff felt completely comfortable being around Annie and didn't feel any of the usual stress of her being too young or him having inappropriate feelings for her. Tonight she was just his friend who he got to discuss and argue about wrestling with. Even if nothing else happened between them after this, at least Jeff would always have times like this to look forward to with Annie.

**_FIN_**


End file.
